I am a student studying horticulture at the college. I know that there
is a good way to break the dormancy of trees and thrubs. This method is
called winter chilling. I use this method to break the dormancy of some
fruit tree seeds. It is quite a common method to use in the home garden
situation.
The method I have used is to soak seeds in water for about 48 hours
(depending on the species, some need a bit longer, some need shorter
soaking time). Then I put in the fridge set at 4 degree Celsius, wrapped
with sphaghum moss or peat moss to maintain the moisture. About 3 to 4
weeks, they can be taken out and sow them directly into seed raising
mix.
Some of the seeds probably need other treatment such as scratching
(also called scarificaiton) or chipping with knife.Plants like acacias
need this special treatment. Mix and shake the seed with sand in a
container before winter chilling treatment.
Sam, 1998,10,7